The document summarizes key topics from the Partner Conference 2014 including retirement plan industry trends seen in plans administered by BPAS. It provides statistics on retirement plan assets, participation rates, contribution rates, and average account balances. It also discusses trends in plan design such as automatic enrollment and investment in target date funds. Plan fees and compliance issues are reviewed. The focus is placed on measuring participant outcomes through a "Retirement Gap Report" and wealth accumulation factors to determine if participants are on track for a secure retirement.
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Total DC plan assets.. $5.9T as of Q4, 2013
Traded securities, ETFs, company stock, Collective Investment Funds, closed end funds, etc.
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Some key DC industry statistics
• Average participation rate = 82.6% for plans with a match, 78.3%
for plans with no employer contributions (PSCA)
• Use of target date funds continues to grow = 68.6% of plans offer
them
• Company contributions = average 4.1% of payroll (401kHelpCenter)
• Asset allocation = typical plan has 60.6% in equities
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• Automatic enrollment in 45.9% of plans
• Investment advice:
— Offered in 57.8% of plans (up from
51.8% in 2008)
— 19.3% of participants use when offered
Some Key 401(k) Statistics
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8. Partner Conference 2014
Average balances across BPAS (12/31/2013)
• 401(k) Plans: $48,261
• 403(b) Plans: $30,046 (understated due to multi-vendor factor)
• 1081.01 Plans: $17,064
• 457(b) Plans: $63,361
• 457(f) Plans: $161,442
• All DC Plans: $37,217
• Fidelity average 401(k) balance: $89,300 (end of 2013), versus $64,200
(end of 2009).. Increase of 39% during this time
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0%
25%
50%
Guess Own
Estimate
Financial
Advisor
Read
About an
Amount
Use Online
Calculator
45%
18% 18%
8% 8%
Methods of determining savings needed for
retirement
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29%
21%
22%
8%
10%
0% 35%
< $250,000
$250,000-$499,999
$500,000- $999,999
$1 - $1.5 Million
> $1.5 Million
How much do employees think they will need to
accumulate by retirement age?
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60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Equity Funds
Hybrid Funds
Bond Funds
77 basis points =
average equity
fund expenses
paid in 2012
Average mutual fund expense ratios have
declined continuously since 1990
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Today, we are seeing movement to….
• Auto enrollment / automatic escalation plans
• Full online enrollment, including online beneficiary designations
– Greater convenience, reducing risks for all parties from manual processes
• Fiduciary service models (3(21), 3(38))
• Level compensation, fee normalization (in lieu of ERISA recapture)
• Age-based QDIAs as defaults (55% of BPAS plans now use QDIAs)
• Proliferation of CIFs (large plans, QDIAs, eliminate models, and
more)
• Fee transparency (408b2, no hidden compensation, no finder’s fees, being up front
about the true costs of servicing a plan)
• DB / DC combo plans due to higher marginal tax rates
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Additional trends
• “Dashboard meetings” … focus on key success indicators
• Going to one of three safe harbors… 22% of BPAS plans now a SH
• Proliferation of MEPs and METs
• Payroll provider integration (180, 360 degree)
• Provider consolidation and acquisitions
– still some aspirational pricing models in play
• Push for greater participant engagement (education, advice,
guidance tools, gamification, personalized sessions.)
• Concern over bankruptcies has driven interest in VEBAs
(municipalities, unions, etc.)
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• Automatic enrollment in 45.9% of plans
• Investment advice:
— Offered in 57.8% of plans (up from
51.8% in 2008)
— 19.3% of participants use when offered
Some Key 401(k) Statistics
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• Moving to safe harbor
• New comparability profit sharing allocation
• Paired cash balance plan with 401(k) / profit
sharing plan
• Converting profit sharing to match
• Stretching out the match
• Automatic enrollment with auto escalation
Trends in Plan Design
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• Loan continuation / loan automation
programs
• Age-based defaults (QDIAs)
• Earlier entry dates
• Allowing part time employees to
participate
• Adding installment payment option
Trends in Plan Design
18
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Practical issues we all need to address
• Not enough participants enrolled in their plan
– On BPAS’ DC platform, approximately 280,000 eligible employees tracked,
of which 195,000 have a balance (69% of eligible employees)
• Not enough participants logging on, using the tools (as of today,
only about 27% of Ees have provided their email address, 40% have
logged on)
• Not enough plans using full online enrollment (about 12% of plans
right now, estimated 45% of participant count)
• Vast majority of participants are not headed for BPAS’ target: 10
times compensation in retirement plans by retirement age
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Average fee schedules for RIAs, Trustees
• $500,000 plan 64 basis points
• $1M plan 54 basis points
• $2.5M plan 43 basis points
• $5M plan 38 basis points
• $10M plan 34 basis points
• $20M plan 29 basis points
• Factors: Fiduciary status, number of group and individual meetings, nature
of workforce, geographic dispersion, total number of participants,
accessibility for individual sessions, additional plan sponsor requests, etc.
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A great tool from Thornburg (K2 in Toolbox)
• Meet with plan sponsor
• Review client needs in light of “dashboard”
• Discuss your services to be provided, how often, and
when
• Negotiate your fee schedule
• Set this in place for the year to govern activity
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Trends among financial intermediaries
• Broker / dealers becoming RIAs
• Shift to retirement specialists
• Movement to institutional share classes
• Some delegating fund monitoring role to focus on
plan and participant-level services
• Rise of firms acting as consultant
• Some moving to flat dollar compensation
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More common compliance pitfalls today
• Late deposits
• Plan document out of date
• Document said X, we did Y
• Compensation definition didn’t
match practice in payroll
• Failure to file 5500
• Failure to fix failed ADP / ACP test
• Failure to distribute required
notices
• Coverage testing / controlled group
issues
• Excess contributions (402g, catch
up, 415)
• Signing documents and
amendments on time
• Safe harbor issues (advance notice,
amendments, etc.)
• Incorrect loan payments
• Missing or incorrect employer
contributions
• Vesting handled incorrectly
• Distributions paid out incorrectly
• Ineligible hardship distributions
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• Monthly report in our plan sponsor website, run for all
plans
• Based around concept of 10 times projected final pay
• 35 year old earning $40,000 with total balance of $84,000:
Current wealth accumulation factor (WAF) of 2.1
• 62 year old earning $72,000, balance of $850,000: Current
wealth accumulation factor (WAF) of 11.8 (grade of A+)
The Retirement Gap Report
Are your participants headed to a secure retirement?
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• Averages provided for plan as a whole
• Monitoring trends / progress over time is a key
focus of BNH
The Retirement Gap Report
Are your participants headed to a secure retirement?
• What is it projected to be for each employee at retirement age?
• Million multiple is also a factor--not just the WAF score
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27. Partner Conference 2014
Recap of 408(b)(2) and 404a-5
• 408(b)(2) – Plan Sponsors
• Annual disclosure. Reviews fiduciary
status, role of providers, total fees
being charged and breakdown among
providers.
• Will allow an employer to say “our
total cost is 1.47% of assets, of which
A, B and C are the pieces”
• Most providers deliver electronically.
Must be updated when there is a
material change in the fee
arrangement
• 404a-5 – Participants
• Annual disclosure and including fees on
quarterly statements
• Summary of fees being charged to plan,
listing of funds, performance, expense
ratios, benchmarks and annual cost per
$1,000 invested
• Provided annually to eligible
participants
• E-delivery helps, but only with
affirmative consent of participant
• Updated annually and when there is a
change (30 days advance notice)
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Putting our focus on outcomes
• The ultimate goal of any retirement plan, especially DC plans
• We spend an inordinate amount of time on other issues that are far
less significant in the end
• Helping clients understand these matters is your first mandate…
then helping improve key success indicators over time is what you
are paid for
• Dashboard meetings and the Retirement Gap Report… will help you
remind clients about the mission of the plan and encourage a long
term relationship with your firm
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• Your Plan: 87%
• Industry Avg: 82%
• Your Plan: $62,470
• Industry Avg: $48,219
• Your Plan: 41.2
• Industry Avg: 45.3
Participation Rate Average Balance Contribution Rate
• Your Plan: $51,240
• Industry Avg: $44,706
• Your Plans: 5,4%
• Industry Avg: 4.1%
• Your Plan: 1.8x
• Industry Avg 1.1x
• Your Plan: 5.2x
• Industry Avg: 4.1x
Participation Rate Avg. Balance Average Age Avg. Compensation
ER Contribution % Current WAF Project Final WAF
